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Mac Pro Updates - What do you want?
- Thread starter d88co88
- Start date
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What I'd rather have, over a superficially "upgraded" Mac Pro, is a totally re-written, re-conceived Final Cut Studio. A video finishing app that can render via all available cores, for instance. Imagine that. No roundtripping. Imagine that!
Apple has kicked the consumer market's collective ass (thank god for that) so now let's kick the "Pro" market's ass already.
Apple has kicked the consumer market's collective ass (thank god for that) so now let's kick the "Pro" market's ass already.
1. Make it fast. Speed sells. The entry level Mac Pro should spank anything else Apple offers, hands down, just as a megabuck Corvette should eat any Camaro. Period. Hence the big price tag. Otherwise, many of us will just buy an i7 or a loaded, used Mac Pro.
2. Keep the easily upgradeable case (or have another similarly functional design) I don't really worry about how pretty it is. (Apple will see to that anyway, to be sure) And I dont wanna wait another six months just so they can make a new pretty case. Function over form for pro users.
3. Keep the multiple hard drive bays. Definitely. Dealbreaker if it has less.
4. esata on the back, and usb 3 as well. Plenty of ports, and plenty of possibilities. And I would prefer something other than the now standard mini headphone jacks. They suck. Mine constantly is loose or has issues.
5. Make it relatively quiet.
6. Reliability is paramount.
7. Lastly, and very importantly, same entry level price. The bottom end Pro should be around the performance of the former line's middle of the road model and no more expensive than previous entry models. Otherwise, why bother?
2. Keep the easily upgradeable case (or have another similarly functional design) I don't really worry about how pretty it is. (Apple will see to that anyway, to be sure) And I dont wanna wait another six months just so they can make a new pretty case. Function over form for pro users.
3. Keep the multiple hard drive bays. Definitely. Dealbreaker if it has less.
4. esata on the back, and usb 3 as well. Plenty of ports, and plenty of possibilities. And I would prefer something other than the now standard mini headphone jacks. They suck. Mine constantly is loose or has issues.
5. Make it relatively quiet.
6. Reliability is paramount.
7. Lastly, and very importantly, same entry level price. The bottom end Pro should be around the performance of the former line's middle of the road model and no more expensive than previous entry models. Otherwise, why bother?
Don't see what else you can expect other than a new 6-core CPU and a new GPU?
Especially since the new chipset won't show for another year yet.
I suppose Apple can finally update to 10 Gigabit Ethernet since Broadcom is now showing 40 Gigabit solutions.
Especially since the new chipset won't show for another year yet.
I suppose Apple can finally update to 10 Gigabit Ethernet since Broadcom is now showing 40 Gigabit solutions.
I lol'd. But in all seriousness, we might see the beginning of consumer fiber. It's already been successfully tested on a Mac Pro.
I wish for these speculative threads to stop... and that suddenly one sunny morning we woke up to a new Mac Pro, and everybody was happy about it - nobody complains about redundant things, like the lack of blue ray, etc.... I wish the new Mac Pro somehow brings peace to earth... 
Just kidding! but seriously dude, stop torturing yourself about it. Plus, there are already multiple threads that are way ahead of you in beating this particular dead horse.
cheers!
Just kidding! but seriously dude, stop torturing yourself about it. Plus, there are already multiple threads that are way ahead of you in beating this particular dead horse.
cheers!
I want people to stop making "we dont need this thread" posts.
Also:
-Lightpeak
-USB3
-Hexacores
-6 RAM slots
-Add a couple of 2.5'' HDD bays
You know, nothing big.
Also:
-Lightpeak
-USB3
-Hexacores
-6 RAM slots
-Add a couple of 2.5'' HDD bays
You know, nothing big.
1. Option for a built in, affordable SSD. Having it come pre- installed is a nice luxury!
2.Take advantage of all the cores. Re-Write Final Cut Express and Pro to take advantage of all 4 or 8 core.
3. Bring a somewhat new design out. The current design is nice, but I'd like a new look.
4. Built in Wifi. This is as simple as it gets.
5.Bringing back Dual DVI. I'm just not a fan of Mini Display. Bringing back the old Dual DVI would be much more convient.
6.An overall better product. The interior of the Mac Pro is a definite keeper. Nothing like it anywhere else!
7. Most importantly, take care of you pro customers. When someone orders a Mac Pro, you should really make it higher priority than a Mac Mini or Macbook. We're giving you tons of are hard earned money!
2.Take advantage of all the cores. Re-Write Final Cut Express and Pro to take advantage of all 4 or 8 core.
3. Bring a somewhat new design out. The current design is nice, but I'd like a new look.
4. Built in Wifi. This is as simple as it gets.
5.Bringing back Dual DVI. I'm just not a fan of Mini Display. Bringing back the old Dual DVI would be much more convient.
6.An overall better product. The interior of the Mac Pro is a definite keeper. Nothing like it anywhere else!
7. Most importantly, take care of you pro customers. When someone orders a Mac Pro, you should really make it higher priority than a Mac Mini or Macbook. We're giving you tons of are hard earned money!
New case design. Chances are they won't do anything major, but it is likely they will at least add a black Apple logo and possibly sleek it out a bit while keeping at least the same functionality.
Lightpeak won't happen and people need to realize that. It's too new for Apple. And as for USB 3.0, that is probably still too new for Apple as well, but still more likely than the .0001% chance of lightpeak.
Hexacores, obviously. I take it you mean 6 RAM slots each CPU considering the dual CPU MP has more than 6 RAM slots. And I agree, that would be nice and would crank up the max amount of RAM for the MP up to 48GB if they stick with 4GB modules. If they decide to start officially supporting 8GB modules then the max RAM would be up to 96GB, insane.
As for 2.5" bays, I would love that. I think instead of having only one option in the second optical bay, they should make an option to put either a superdrive there or a harddrive. There are things out there now that let you put 2 drives in the empty optical bay. If they made one of those and made it an option, I would no doubt pay the extra $$ for that.
Definitely agree with taking advantage of all the cores. When they put dual six-core CPUs in the Mac Pro with hyper threading, they need their applications to be able to completely utilize their product.
Like I said before, if they do a case redesign, the main things I could see them doing is a black Apple logo and to just sleek it out a bit without losing anything.
I would absolutely love built-in wifi. I plan on getting this 2010 MP when it comes out. My goal is to have 3 monitors and hook it up to my tv as well. I will be doing a lot of 3D rendering and possibly some gaming. And some rendering engines are able to take the GPU to help it out a bit. Also, I will be doing a lot of boot camp and want good GPU performance. With 4 displays hooked up, I will need at least 2 GPUs. If the second one is one of their high end ones that is a little bigger, it will cover a PCI slot. If this happens and they don't do built-in wifi, then after getting an airport card I will be out of slots, definitely not ideal.
I do not like the idea of 2 dual link DVI ports. I currently have a 24" Apple LED display. There is no Apple supported connector to plug that into a DVI port. However, there is an Apple supported connector for MDP to DVI. Sure, there might be some third-party adapters (I'm not quite sure) but I feel much more comfortable with one that Apple makes. I would even feel fine using a non-Apple connector for MDP to DVI because Apple has made them just like that, and not DVI to MDP. Maybe its just me, but I would just feel more comfortable that way.
The interior of the MP is amazing. It is extremely organized and very easy to upgrade. They definitely need to keep the same functionality with that.
And I agree that they should indeed take care of their prosumers. Those machines cost a lot of money and are needed by many people to make money. They should really think a little more about people who spend so much money on their products and depend on it for a living.
I don't need a new design, though I'd be fine with one if it were just as functional or more functional. The current design is a big reason the Mac Pro can stay so cool while being so quiet.
Apple can let their designers ruin functionality in the consumer stuff *cough* iPhone 4 *cough* through design, but I frankly don't care what the Mac Pro looks like so long as it's quiet, cool, and easy to work with.
Apple can let their designers ruin functionality in the consumer stuff *cough* iPhone 4 *cough* through design, but I frankly don't care what the Mac Pro looks like so long as it's quiet, cool, and easy to work with.
Well, would be nice to bring back optional liquid cooling for both CPU and graphic card. Not to mention dual Quad-core (low end) or dual hex-core (high end) configurations. Also add workstation graphic cards as options. Seriously, don't use crap GT120 anymore, it's mac pro, not macbook pro.
Stats
I have tried fathoming out the probabilities for the next mac pro. Surely the longer we wait the chances are for a better machine. I cannot see it being a quiet upgrade anymore. Surely after so long it will get a special event. I can see this happening with autocad and 3D studio being showcased.Apple need to secure the Pro market.The line up will be simple 6 or 12 (2 versions) core new BTO ati card, 6 ram slots plus esata and usb 3.The case will remain.
The Mac Pro case is Iconic.At it's G5 launch it looked like the 2001 space odyssey obelisk.It still looks like it has sat somewhere on a distant planet for millions of years. It's timeless.
I have tried fathoming out the probabilities for the next mac pro. Surely the longer we wait the chances are for a better machine. I cannot see it being a quiet upgrade anymore. Surely after so long it will get a special event. I can see this happening with autocad and 3D studio being showcased.Apple need to secure the Pro market.The line up will be simple 6 or 12 (2 versions) core new BTO ati card, 6 ram slots plus esata and usb 3.The case will remain.
The Mac Pro case is Iconic.At it's G5 launch it looked like the 2001 space odyssey obelisk.It still looks like it has sat somewhere on a distant planet for millions of years. It's timeless.
I second the SATA-6 wish. SSDs are going to get very fast in the next few years saturating the SATA-3 bus.
It's too soon for lightpeak. For some reason I don't think Apple is too hot on USB3 and will implement lightpeak when it's available, probably in 2011.
Long Shot
Is there any super slim chance that apple and intel are working on something specific for the next mac pro ? like they did with the air ?
Is there any super slim chance that apple and intel are working on something specific for the next mac pro ? like they did with the air ?
P7500 wasn't that custom chip, just underclocked so it was suitable for MBA. iMacs used to use customs CPUs but they weren't so different, just cooler than desktop versions and hotter than mobile versions so in the end, it was just cheaper to use them instead of mobile chips.
What you mean by Mac Pro only? Only reason Intel has made specific chips for Macs were because they were not able to offer something which was suitable for it in terms of power consumption, they aren't that different. Mac Pro has no issues with wattage so there is no reason to come up with MP specific CPUs.
Okay i suppose there is no specific need apart from wanting to be THE fastest workstation as a boasting point. I do a lot of 3D rendering and i often visit benchwell i see a 4x6 opteron is winning. Just how loyal is apple to ibm,intel or AMD ? Or could we see a super high end 4x6 intel version ?
You won't see a 4 processor system from Apple. It would be a very expensive system ($12,000+) for a tiny audience.
As far as I know, Westmere only support dual CPU configurations so quad CPU Mac Pro would require Becton (has 4xQPI) to be used and that's 3700$ per chip so you would be looking at $25k Mac Pro. AMD Opteron seems to support quad CPU configuration though. Apple doesn't seem to be into super or extreme computers though
As far as I know, Westmere only support dual CPU configurations so quad CPU Mac Pro would require Becton (has 4xQPI) to be used and that's 3700$ per chip so you would be looking at $25k Mac Pro. AMD Opteron seems to support quad CPU configuration though. Apple doesn't seem to be into super or extreme computers though
I think we can safely say it will launch with a new 30" ACD so a special event is becoming more likely ? (i am hopelessly looking for hope) Maybe the next mac pros will be open cl focused ? Just like cuda is becoming an option ?